Republicans are split on the question. In contrast, a majority of independents are not willing to part with liberty for security.

Interestingly, people over 50 are much more willing to part with liberty for security. I suspect this is reinforcement for my view that the Baby Boom generation has, for the most part, been a pox on this country.

Rice contradicted Libyan President Mohammed Magariaf, who said the same day that "this was an attack by Islamic extremists, possibly with terrorist links," Hicks said. "He describes what happens. He tells the truth of what happened. And so, you know, Ambassador Rice says what she says, contradicting what the president of Libya says from Benghazi."

tifosi77 wrote:There is a pretty big wildfire burning just across the Ventura County line. So far well over 10,000 acres have burned and it's only at about 10% containment. Part of the fire was just two miles from my wife's office, people were out watching from the rooftops. (Lots of employees at her company live in the area that's burning, so attendance yesterday was low.) There's about a 10-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway that's been shut down, but thankfully it's not a high-traffic area. But overnight the fire burned right down the ridge all the way to the ocean.

The fire is currently almost completely surrounding an electronic communications and sensor system used by the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division at NAS Pt. Mugu. System is on top of Laguna Peak about two miles east of the base. It's worth about $1 billion and is used to test everything from air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, anti-satellite weapons, and even hypersonic test aircraft.

How are the Santa Anna's today?

Had favorable weather Friday night and through Saturday and today. Looking like full containment by tomorrow, but it's up around 30,000 acres burned. My wife's company was actually forced to shut down at 1 pm Friday because of smoke. A bunch of her coworkers (who live in the general area) all had houses and cars covered in ash.

And our house is about 30 miles from the fire zone, but Friday evening we could actually smell it.

tifosi77 wrote:There is a pretty big wildfire burning just across the Ventura County line. So far well over 10,000 acres have burned and it's only at about 10% containment. Part of the fire was just two miles from my wife's office, people were out watching from the rooftops. (Lots of employees at her company live in the area that's burning, so attendance yesterday was low.) There's about a 10-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway that's been shut down, but thankfully it's not a high-traffic area. But overnight the fire burned right down the ridge all the way to the ocean.

The fire is currently almost completely surrounding an electronic communications and sensor system used by the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division at NAS Pt. Mugu. System is on top of Laguna Peak about two miles east of the base. It's worth about $1 billion and is used to test everything from air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, anti-satellite weapons, and even hypersonic test aircraft.

How are the Santa Anna's today?

Had favorable weather Friday night and through Saturday and today. Looking like full containment by tomorrow, but it's up around 30,000 acres burned. My wife's company was actually forced to shut down at 1 pm Friday because of smoke. A bunch of her coworkers (who live in the general area) all had houses and cars covered in ash.

And our house is about 30 miles from the fire zone, but Friday evening we could actually smell it.

After years of budget cuts, and after voters approved Brown's tax hike in November, the pressure on the governor will be intense from lawmakers and advocates eager to restore money to programs that were sliced to close deficits. But Brown has already cautioned that there may not be much cash to spread around after education funding requirements are met.

That's not how the surplus should be used. Pay down the debt (as Gov Brown wants to do) before changing any levels of spending..... otherwise we'll find ourselves right back where we started.

But based on ExPat's comments following up, I'm guessing it was perhaps Jeremy Scahill on Real Time talking about the drone program? I'm not the biggest fan of Scahill, but he said in a couple minutes what has taken me years of posting here to say. We're creating more enemies than we're killing.

ExPatriatePen wrote:How many years until the technology involved here gets turned against us? It's probably not as far off as you might imagine.

I'd say countries like Iran and NK already possess the basic tech to build a basic UAV. The only thing standing in the way of a foreign nation using drones against us now is getting them 'in theater' and weaponizing them. Building a UAV with anything more than a couple hundred miles of range is a tough trick (for a variety of reasons, such as having a global communications capability to control the vehicle from within your own borders), and once you have that accomplished you have to figure out how to put a bomb and targeting system on the thing.

All in all, I'd say we've only got about a 3-5 year window of remaining exclusivity in the drone game. And I think that's being generous.

But based on ExPat's comments following up, I'm guessing it was perhaps Jeremy Scahill on Real Time talking about the drone program? I'm not the biggest fan of Scahill, but he said in a couple minutes what has taken me years of posting here to say. We're creating more enemies than we're killing.

Israel's actions don't really bother me, as long as we don't get involved

Agreed

If they had concrete proof that there are chemical weapons heading to Hezbollah, then I could almost understand their actions. But we now learned those were some missles (something their shield is supposed to stop anyway), and that they have bombed another facility and maybe as many as 4. So what this is is what I've been reading since last year that Israel was planning to start crap sometime this summer, hoping to draw U.S. into a larger conflict. You know if Syria (or Iran) respond, we have a big war and the United States is joining. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

The Armed Citizen Project, a nonprofit group that arms residents living in high-crime cities, reportedly hopes to put shotguns in the hands of residents living in Chicago.

The group is currently arming residents in the Houston and Tuscon areas, but made headlines after the National Rifle Association’s convention in Houston this weekend when they announced hoped for expansion into more than 15 cities, including Chicago, according to DNAinfo.com.

The group’s mission is to arm law-abiding citizens and train them in safety, legal, and tactical measures, according to ACP’s website. All participants who to receive a weapon and take the training program will receive a shotgun, for free.

lol. Chicago is the murder capital of the United States, and features some of the strictest gun laws in the entire country. I hardly think you are going to be less safe there if the NRA makes a push for legal gun ownership.

The Armed Citizen Project, a nonprofit group that arms residents living in high-crime cities, reportedly hopes to put shotguns in the hands of residents living in Chicago.

The group is currently arming residents in the Houston and Tuscon areas, but made headlines after the National Rifle Association’s convention in Houston this weekend when they announced hoped for expansion into more than 15 cities, including Chicago, according to DNAinfo.com.

The group’s mission is to arm law-abiding citizens and train them in safety, legal, and tactical measures, according to ACP’s website. All participants who to receive a weapon and take the training program will receive a shotgun, for free.

To me this is terrifying. Seems like they are giving the George Zimmerman's of the world a shotgun, some target practice, and a badge to go forth and wreak havoc. The more mall cops, neighborhood watchers, and "Armed Citizens Brigades" we have marching around our streets with firearms, the LESS safe I will feel.